By Vitaly PORTNYKOV, The Day
The current chief city administrator Oleksandr Omelchenko has won the mayoral
elections in Kyiv. People's Deputy Hryhory Surkis, considered the mayor's
main rival, garnered about 17% of the votes.
...The current governor of Belgorod oblast, Russia, Yevgeny Savchenko
has won the gubernatorial elections in that region. People's Deputy Vladimir
Zhirinovsky, considered the governor's main rival, only came in third,
also with about 17%.
I am far from wishing to compare the respected president of a legendary
soccer club with one of Russia's most odious politicians. God forbid! For
we are all patriots and wish our Dynamo every success!
I only want to compare the election technologies that led to such unexpectedly
similar results.
Two national-level politicians decided to become regional administrators
in regions where the people were not delighted with the local authorities.
They behaved like true saviors, as people who decided to grace the population
of their chosen regions by presenting themselves, as they put it in Belgorod,
as "big personalities." They do not much talk about themselves, for this
was already common knowledge. Ukrainian television showed clips portraying
Mr. Omelchenko as Sharikov (a satirical character from Bulgakov - Ed.).
Mr. Zhirinovsky claimed that Mr. Savchenko should be put in imprison. Simultaneously,
the populace was invited to free gala concerts: the life of the electorate
becomes a true show of the play In the Steppes of Ukraine (and next to
it). "Look who's dancing! Hryhory Surkis!"
Mr. Zhirinovsky not only dances, he also sings: he had issued a CD with
Alla Pugachova's best songs in his own rendition in time for the election
campaign. A good idea for the next election campaign, isn't it? One can
also play the guitar.
The party structures led by the respected mayoral candidate in Kyiv
and the odious Russian politician apparently contest the role of "the party
of power" or at least an important part of it. The SDPU(o) does not conceal
its wish to be "more like the NDP than the NDP itself." Zhirinovsky's LDPR
votes for all the Kremlin's proposals with greater enthusiasm than Chernomyrdin's
Our Home is Russia, which was specially created to do so. Small wonder,
for the SDPU(o) was created by business people turned politicians. The
LDPR leader has turned politics into business.
What is left is the finale, a triumphant victory, fanfares! What we
need is a mayor of Kyiv not of Khreshchatyk! Throw Savchenko into the slammer!
17%. Both contenders, the respected president of a soccer club, three
times Man of the Year, and the odious Russian populist were convinced this
could not have happened.
Abuse!
But it turned out that it could happen. This phenomenon is known as
protest voting. Mr. Omelchenko might well have won this election without
Mr. Surkis, but with a different result. For most Kyivans would have voted
for somebody else or may even have gone out of town to relax. But in this
case, they voted against not, of course, the respected president of the
favorite soccer club, but against those television clips, concerts, and
the assurance of some of the respected contender's image-makers that Kyiv
is populated by, pardon the expression, trash.
In addition, many voters understood which of the candidates had won
the heart of this country's most popular man of the year. And they showed
it.
As to Mr. Savchenko, he had bad luck. Had there been no Mr. Zhirinovsky,
he would have easily won the second round (the latter is a must in Belgorod
elections). There would have been no split among the region's Communists,
for his rival, member of the Auditing Chamber Mikhail Beskhmelnitsyn, would
have been supported on the spot by none other than Gennady Ziuganov, and
not a certain Makashov. And no one knows how all this would have ended.
But in practice, Belgorod dwellers did not accept Mr. Zhirinovsky's view
that they are, pardon the expression, trash.
Moreover, many voters understood that some well-wisher in the Kremlin
wanted to throw Mr. Zhirinovsky a bone so that he voted correctly further
on. But the electorate chose not to be a bone.
Well, the respected president and the odious politician have already
lost. But these were not the last elections. There already is a well-tested
scenario of how to win 17% and greet one's rival without waiting for the
runoff.
Does anybody want to use it?






